Hexagram 37, line 1
初九Line 1 of Household
Nine at the beginning · 家人 jiā rén
爻辭 The line text
閑有家，悔亡。The first line, undivided, shows its subject establishing restrictive regulations in his household Occasion for repentance will disappear.
閑有家，志未變也。'He establishes restrictive regulations in his household:'—(he does so), before any change has taken place in their wills.
In plain words
Guarding the household: 閑 is a fence or a barrier, and the first line sets one up. Line one is yang in its correct place at the very bottom of Jia Ren — the founding of the family, the first day of living together, the moment when rules cost nothing because no one has yet got used to doing without them. The text says regret will disappear, and the small Image explains when such guarding works: 'before the wills have changed' (志未變). Cheng Yi's reading is that a household set in order at the start never needs to be set in order by force later.
If this line is changing
Settle how things will be done at the beginning, kindly and clearly, while everyone is still willing; a boundary drawn now saves a quarrel later.
Where the line stands
- A solid line, yang — written 九 (nine), the number of an old yang line that moves when cast.
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
- It belongs to the lower trigram 離 Li (the Clinging) (fire).
- It corresponds (應) with line 4: one yin and one yang, the two lines answer each other across the hexagram.
之卦 When this line moves
家人 Household becomes ䷴ 53 漸 Gradual Advance
A tree on the mountain: gradual growth. The wild goose advances stage by stage — shore, rock, dry land, tree, hill, the heights — good fortune for a marriage, success through correctness.
What it becomes53 · 漸 Gradual AdvancejiànThe six lines of 家人 Household
- 初九Nine at the beginningsetting boundaries · at the outset · before wills change
- 六二Six in the second placethe inner place · nourishing · gentle correctness
- 九三Nine in the third placesternness · laughter and chatter · losing measure
- 六四Six in the fourth placeenriching the household · compliance in place · great good fortune
- 九五Nine in the fifth placethe king comes home · mutual love · no anxiety
- 上九Nine at the topsincerity and dignity · turning inward · good fortune in the end
Read 家人 Household for a question about
Questions about this line
- What does Nine at the beginning of hexagram 37, Household, mean?
- Guarding the household: 閑 is a fence or a barrier, and the first line sets one up. Line one is yang in its correct place at the very bottom of Jia Ren — the founding of the family, the first day of living together, the moment when rules cost nothing because no one has yet got used to doing without them. The text says regret will disappear, and the small Image explains when such guarding works: 'before the wills have changed' (志未變). Cheng Yi's reading is that a household set in order at the start never needs to be set in order by force later.
- What does hexagram 37 become when line 1 changes?
- Household becomes hexagram 53, 漸 Gradual Advance: A tree on the mountain: gradual growth. The wild goose advances stage by stage — shore, rock, dry land, tree, hill, the heights — good fortune for a marriage, success through correctness.
- Is line 1 of Household in its correct place?
- It is in its correct place (當位): a yang line in an odd position or a yin line in an even one, which the tradition reads as a line at ease where it stands.
Chinese text: the received Zhouyi (Wuyingdian lineage). English: James Legge, The Yî King, Sacred Books of the East XVI, 1882 (public domain).